


Paper Envelopes

by wolfish_willow



Series: NaNoWriMo 2020 [4]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Future Fic, Living Together, Multi, POV Steve Harrington, POV Third Person, Steve Harrington-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28176816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfish_willow/pseuds/wolfish_willow
Summary: Steve's been applying to schools with Nancy and Jonathan's help. Today he comes home to a pile of envelopes with his name on them.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler
Series: NaNoWriMo 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2042158
Comments: 9
Kudos: 39





	Paper Envelopes

**Author's Note:**

> Fourth nano fic posted! 
> 
> For the prompt: Steve getting a bunch of college letters a year later after getting help from his boyfriend and girlfriend and together they open them to see what’s inside.
> 
> Not beta'd. Feel free to point out any typos I've missed in my edits. :)

There is nothing quite like coming home after a long day at work. Steve remembers feeling something close to it back in high school, but it wasn't the same. Home looks different now; it isn't a too big, too quiet house that he used to fill with people and noise to keep from being alone.

Home looks like an almost too small apartment with mismatching furniture that he shares with two of the people he cares most about in the world.

"You're home!" Nancy's voice greets him when he lets himself in.

Steve looks over from where he's hanging his coat on their newly acquired coat rack. He doesn't mind throwing it over the back of the couch or one of the kitchen chairs, but Jonathan insists. One of the things he's learned since moving in together is that Jonathan is the one most concerned with keeping things neat. Steve can admit that after moving out of his parents' house with their rigid rules about how everything _should_ be, he might have gone a little overboard in letting their new space become a wreck when they first moved in.

Nancy and Jonathan let it go on for a while. They knew how it was at his house, before. It could only go on for so long, though. Eventually even Jonathan, whose house had been wrecked several times thanks to monsters and people alike, had enough of tripping over Steve's things around their apartment. Steve thinks he's found a happy medium now. He doesn't have to avoid certain pieces of furniture—not that they have a whole lot of it—and he can eat on the couch with them, but he isn't going to leave his plate or glass lying around until someone else picks it up.

And his coat lives on the coat rack.

It might be stupid but working that out together makes him feel more like an adult than actually moving in did.

"Hey," he says, leaning over the arm of the couch to kiss her. She smiles and says a soft, "Hey," between kisses before he straightens back up.

"How was your day?" she asks, setting the book she'd been holding on the coffee table. They bought it used a few weeks ago. The whole thing is a bit beat up and worn around the edges in a way Jonathan assures them he can fix when he has the time. It hasn't happened yet, but Steve doesn't mind. An old, beat up coffee table he bought with the loves of his life is a hundred, a thousand, times better than using the fancy glass one back at his parents' house.

Steve gives her question a second of thought and shrugs.

Sometimes it's too much effort to go into it. Who cares that he dealt with another pissed off customer—or three—who didn't understand how to return movies on time? It's worse here than back in Hawkins. There, his customers consisted of people he knew by face if not by name. He could be a bit more lax about some things, like a just barely late return.

It's different here where he doesn't know anyone and it feels a hundred times busier. Living in a college town has its perks—he particularly likes that they barely have to drive if they want to go out together—but the downsides are dealing with so many people when he's working.

He doesn't want to dim her smile or relive the day when he's finally home and doesn't have to worry about it anymore.

"Y'know, people came in for movies and I rented those movies to them. Same old, same old."

Nancy gets up on her knees, stretching until she can wrap her arms around his neck. She runs her fingers through his hair where it curls at the ends. Goosebumps trail down his arms and he hums at the feeling. His hands sit naturally at her waist, thumb sweeping over the sliver of skin he can just reach under her shirt. Steve leans in until their foreheads touch. She's a blur so close but he knows that when her mouth moves it's because she's biting her lip. He smiles, closing his eyes and breathing her in.

"What's up?" he asks without opening his eyes. Even with aching feet, he could stand here the rest of the day and be happy. The only thing that would make it better is Jonathan joining in, wrapped around one or both of them.

Nancy shakes her head. She scratches her nail gently against his scalp and he melts a little more into her.

"Why don't you go get comfy?" she says, cutting his whine short with a kiss. "Jonathan's making your favorite."

Steve tears himself away from her with effort. He gets a little caught up in how her bottom lip is dark from the way she'd been biting it.

"I didn't forget an anniversary, did I?" he asks even though he's sure he didn't. They have a calendar marked with all of their birthdays and anniversaries. Nancy's idea. It's a relief for Steve who isn't always great at remembering things but never wants to miss the important days.

"No." She kisses him again, hand flat against his chest. He sways back when she adds pressure to it, pushing him away from the couch. Smiling, she settles back on the couch and reaches for her book. "Just wanted to do something special."

"Sounds good," he says, heart full. Moments like this are worth following both of them when they moved for school, shitty job and all. With a wink, he heads for the bedroom. "I'll be out in a bit."

"I'll be here."

* * *

Of all the furniture they've collected for their apartment, and Steve loves it all, their dining table has a special place in his heart. It is the only one that was given to them by someone back home. With Hopper, and by extension El, over more and more the Byers had already invested in a larger table for the house. Mrs. Byers insisted they take the old one so they would have somewhere to eat when they moved in.

Steve spent a lot of time there that last year. Their house isn't anything like his parents' and is all the better for it. He felt more comfortable there than just about anywhere. Getting to eat at this table every day after they moved feels like they brought a little piece of home with them.

Sitting here in comfortable clothes that smell like detergent and a little like Jonathan, a plate of food in front of him, Steve feels the moment his muscles start to relax. There's nothing better than enjoying an evening with Nancy and Jonathan, except for what usually comes even later in the evening.

"So," Nancy says slowly when their plates are closer to empty than full. Chin resting on her hand, she draws the word out. She glances at Jonathan. Steve raises his eyebrows and tries to convince his stomach there's no reason for the food he just ate to sit uncomfortably.

"Yeah?"

"I might not have been entirely truthful when I said there was no special reason for all this tonight."

Steve looks at them both. They don't look guilty and he can't think of anything they might feel like they need to make up for. "Okay."

"It's nothing bad," Jonathan says, covering Steve's hand with his own. He rubs his thumb over the back of it until Steve loosens the grip he has on his fork. Steve hadn't noticed how tightly he was holding it. "But we thought you might, well."

Nancy stands and picks up a pile of papers sitting on the counter. When she takes his plate away and replaces it with them he realizes they're all envelopes. He doesn't get it at first. Nancy curls around his back, a hand on each of his arms. She presses her cheek against his when he sees the logo in the corner of the envelope on top of the pile.

"These are…"

Jonathan squeezes his hand. He's got a proud half smile on his face when Steve looks at him. "Yeah."

"Shit," Steve says with a nervous laugh. "All of them?"

He doesn't need an answer but Nancy nods against him anyway.

"I don't know if I can—"

"Yes you can," Nancy says quietly in his ear, kissing his cheek.

"And if you _can't_ , we'll help you."

He feels Nancy's smile and Jonathan's eyes on him and takes a deep breath. It's shakier than he wants it to be but he feels steadier.

"Okay."

He picks up the one on top. It's heavier than it should be but even he knows that's in his head. It's all just paper. Nancy stands up but stays behind him, her hand coming to rest on the back of his neck. Jonathan scoots his chair closer, close enough that their arms are touching so Steve can have his hand back. He feels like they should be shaking but they aren't.

"Ready?" he asks, not stalling. Not really. Just needing another second to breathe before he finds out whether he did enough to get into even one of the schools they helped him apply to.

Nancy scratches her nails in his hair and Jonathan leans heavier against him.

"Whenever you are," Jonathan says.

Nancy hums in agreement and adds, "Whatever they say, we're really proud of you."

Steve exhales slowly, nodding. He _wants_ to have gotten into at least one of them. Wants to know for a fact that he can do better, be better. Nancy and Jonathan deserve the best and he still has brief moments when he doesn't understand how they can want him when he's _not_. But they do. They love him and it doesn't matter if it doesn't work out this time because he knows that they will help him try again. And again and again if that's what he wants to do.

"Here we go," he says, ripping open the envelope in his hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are much appreciated <3


End file.
